


Partners In Crime.

by HAT123



Category: Emmerdale, Emmerdale RPF
Genre: Bottom Robert Sugden, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Brothers, Canon Gay Relationship, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Panic, Horny Teenagers, Idiots in Love, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Multi, Sad Robert Sugden, Supportive Aaron Dingle, Switching, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Vulnerable Robert Sugden, Young Aaron Dingle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22934050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HAT123/pseuds/HAT123
Summary: Teenage Robert Sugden gets into a state at a party and the only person there to help is Aaron Dingle, the village troublemaker turned secret softie. Things quickly heat up between the teenagers as they battle with their sexuality amongst other issues in their life. Angst AU.
Relationships: Aaron Dingle & Paddy Kirk, Aaron Dingle & Robert Sugden, Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden, Adam Barton/Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden, Adam Barton/Victoria Sugden, Andy Sugden & Robert Sugden, Connor Jensen/Robert Sugden, Jack Sugden/Robert Sugden, Robert Sugden & Victoria Sugden, Robert Sugden/Victoria Sugden
Comments: 81
Kudos: 179





	1. 1

Robert Sugden was no different to any other teenager, well not really. If there was a party being thrown, then Robert would always be there. It started off as just a way for him to get away from his siblings on a Friday night, despite having to get up early and work on his father's farm the next day, but soon enough his little sister Vic had started to tag along with him. Robert didn't really mind Vic intruding but on one Friday night she'd brought their brother Andy along and Robert was less than pleased. 

This week’s party was being thrown at Adam Barton's house, which was the other farm in the small village of Emmerdale where they lived. Robert was pretty sure that Vic had a crush on Adam and that was why she insisted upon coming, though he had no idea why she decided to invite Andy and his awful girlfriend Katie. Robert hated them both. Whenever he was around the two of them, he felt as if he was on edge. They always ruined everything for him.

As soon as they had gotten to the party, Vic had left Robert to go in search of Adam and Robert was left alone and in search of a familiar face. He stumbled across Ross Barton, who was notorious at their school for dealing drugs and approached him. 

“Do you have anything I can buy?” Robert asked him, he’d never really been interested in drugs before and wasn’t sure how someone went about buying them. 

Ross laughed, looking so smug that Robert almost turned around and left right then. “What can I get for you, Sugden?” He asked, holding out a little bag of cocaine. “Would this do you?” Ross had to shift a whole bunch of the stuff unless he’d get in trouble with his boss and he had very little regard for the safety of whoever he was giving it to. 

Robert nodded, taking the bag and putting it in his pocket quickly so that nobody would see. “Keep quiet though, yeah? I don’t want anyone finding out.”

“My lips are sealed, mate. Twenty Quid.” He held his hand out for Robert to pay him and walked off with that same smug look on his face once he had been paid. 

Sheepishly, Robert took the coke in the upstairs bathroom, completely unaware that Aaron Dingle had seen his whole deal with Ross. Not that Aaron and Robert were that close, in fact the pair had barely even spoken despite going to school together ever since year eight. The cocaine took around ten minutes to kick in and once the blonde began to feel the unfamiliar buzz in his system, he headed downstairs. It was a strange feeling, everything around him felt amplified; the music blaring through the speakers Adam had set up, the laughter from the White sisters in the corner, the way his clothes felt against his skin. It felt like the room had rapidly became a hundred degrees hotter than it really was, his freckled cheeks now red and flushed. He felt euphoric and yet when his eyes landed on Andy and Katie, he felt a sudden rush of anger through his body. 

He slammed Andy up against the wall nearest to them, the drug making him confident he could take on his much taller and much stronger brother. All it took was one swift punch from Andy and the next thing Robert knew was that he had been thrown out of the party and right into the mud outside of Adam’s house. The teenager groaned softly, reaching up when he felt blood dripping down his face. It wasn’t a shock that Andy had busted his nose, the pair of them had fought plenty of times in their life and Robert always came out worse off. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, forcing himself up off the ground and beginning to walk down the gravel track towards the village. 

Time seemed to pass so slowly for Robert, the short walk turning into half an hour of him dragging his feet along the gravel until he finally reached the village park. He bent over, clutching his stomach as he felt the contents of his stomach coming up and spilling out onto the grass beneath him, covering his posh designer shirt, that he’d spent ages saving up for too. He felt a heavy hand on his back, guiding him away from the park but didn’t really register anything until he was back in the stranger’s bathroom, lay in the bathtub with the shower pouring down on him. Robert’s head lulled backwards, hitting the tiles behind him with a heavy thud that he would feel for several days after. Double vision didn’t do much help for his nausea but eventually he began to make out the stranger in the room. Aaron Dingle. 

Aaron looked down at Robert, guiding a bottle of water to his mouth to try and keep him hydrated. “What were you thinking taking anything that Ross sells? You idiot.” He scoffed, helping Robert out of the shower and shutting the water off. 

“Andy’s fault.” Robert mumbled, his body limp in Aaron’s arms as he helped him to his feet. He was like a deadweight leaning against Aaron and somehow, he managed to drag Robert into his bedroom, tucking him into the bed while he went downstairs to clean Robert’s clothes for him. Aaron silently thanked his family for being away for the night as he stuffed Robert’s clothes into the washing machine, putting it on a boil wash since he figured the stench of sick would be pretty hard to remove.

Eventually he returned to his bedroom, taking a second to admire a sleeping Robert. The blonde looked pretty as he lay there, no hints of any troubles on his face. Aaron felt sorry for him, he had heard all about what had happened to Robert’s mum, Sarah. It was tragic and Aaron understood why Robert had always been a little messed up. He pushed Robert out of the way and climbed into bed besides him, attempting to fall asleep despite the huge lump snoring besides him.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron realises that looking at Robert Sugden gives him butterflies in his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter, building up the drama for the next chapter so please stick with this.  
> Next chapter includes lots of drama and a very soft Aaron Dingle.

With a painful banging in his head, Robert woke the next morning and tried to sit up. Immediately wincing when the light from a crack in the curtains met his eyes. This wasn’t his bedroom and he could barely remember the night before. His whole body felt achy as he reached up and felt his swollen nose, clearly, he’d gotten into some sort of fight. All too suddenly he realised that he was sharing the bed with someone and turned to see who it was, screwing his face up when he saw Aaron Dingle laying besides him. 

“Fuck.” He breathed out, sitting up against the headboard of Aaron’s bed and earning a groan from the tired teen next to him. 

“Will you shut up?” Aaron grumbled, “I’m trying to sleep here.”

“What happened last night?” Robert nudged him, trying to keep Aaron awake. “Why am I here?”

“Well, idiot. You took too much of that crap Ross sold you and tried to start a fight with Andy.” He moved to sit up as he spoke to Robert. “You got thrown out of the party and I found you afterwards covered in your own sick. I didn’t think your dad would be happy if I took you home in that state, so I brought you here and cleaned you up. So, a thanks would be nice.” 

“Right, thanks. I owe you one.” Robert shrugged, moving to get out of Aaron’s all too cosy bed. “Where are my clothes?” 

“In the wash. You can wear something of mine, and I can drop your stuff off when its dry.” He got up, throwing a hoodie and some sweatpants at Robert, looking away as the blonde pulled the clothes on. There was just something about Robert that was drawing him in though he told himself he just felt sorry for Robert and would have done the same for anyone else he found in that position. 

After changing, Robert headed home, trying to sneak into the house and up to his bedroom before his dad realised and forced him to go and work out on the field. He safely reached his bedroom, clinging onto his lumpy mattress and pulling the duvet up around him, cuddled up with the comforting aroma of Aaron Dingle coming off the hoodie he wore. Though his peace was only momentary when Vic burst into his bedroom.

“Where did you end up last night? You made such an idiot out of yourself, Rob.” She spoke, staring down at him as he lifted his head up from the pillow. She let out a little gasp when she saw his swollen, bruised face. “Did Andy do that?” 

Robert pulled Aaron’s hood up over his head, “Would you shut up? My head’s killing and you’re going on with yourself.” He grumbled; his brows furrowed. “Sorry if I embarrassed you, Vic. Just get over it, yeah?” 

“So, you’re not going to tell me where you ended up? I was worried.” 

“I stayed at Aaron’s actually. He found me wasted and took me home. No big deal. Now go away.” He moved to lay back down, burying his head against his pillows. He just wanted some peace and quiet. The last thing he wanted was to listen to Vic yelling at him because he had embarrassed her in front of Aaron. She didn’t care about where Robert had gotten too, not really. Nobody cared about Robert. It was fact. He’d lost the one person who cared about him when his mum had died and ever since he had been looking out for himself. 

Vic rolled her eyes as she left Robert’s bedroom, slamming the door behind her, causing his head even more pain. He groaned as the noise rang in his head, pulling the duvet up around him as if it was some sort of shield from the noise. He knew he’d probably feel awful about taking drugs, but he hadn’t expected to feel this bad. Robert was naïve to the concept of ‘coming down’ after taking drugs and he was sure that being punched by Andy hadn’t helped him very much. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out, seeing a text message from Aaron and smiling slightly. Maybe there was one person who did care? Aaron could have so easily left him last night, but he didn’t. He read the text and began to reply;

Aaron: Feeling any better yet?  
Robert: Not at all. Feels like someone’s taken a hammer to my head  
Aaron: Not gonna say it serves you right but…it serves you right  
Robert: Asshole. Thanks for looking after me anyway  
Aaron: That’s what mates are for, isn’t it? Just don’t get in that state again, I don’t fancy dragging you out of a ditch next week  
Robert: Can’t make any promises. See you in school Dingle x

The boys didn’t contact each other again all weekend, spotting each other in registration and briefly acknowledging each other’s existence, or rather Robert approached Aaron to talk but Aaron swiftly left before Robert could talk to him. Aaron knew it was stupid but receiving the kiss in the text from Robert had made him feel all funny. He felt butterflies, the same feeling he had when he had admired a sleeping Robert. It was wrong and Aaron hated the way Robert was making him feel. No girl had ever made him feel this way before. The rumours about Robert didn’t exactly help Aaron feel better either. Most people had heard the rumours about the Sugden boy and Connor Jensen; it had gone around school that they had hooked up at a party but, according to Adam, Robert had denied the whole thing. Though the whole thing had caused tension between Connor and Robert, in fact the boys who were once close hadn’t been seen together since, which made Aaron believe that there was some element of truth to the rumours. Subsequently, Aaron decided to do the only thing that seemed logical and avoided Robert. If he just didn’t spend any time with him then there was no way he would catch feelings for him and even less of a chance that Aaron was gay, that’s how it worked right? It made sense in Aaron’s head anyway. Even if the look on Robert’s face, when he avoided him, made Aaron feel like he’d kicked an innocent puppy.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert is hurting and the only person who seems to care is Aaron.

After a couple of weeks of Aaron doing everything he possibly could to avoid Robert, it seemed Robert got the hint. He didn’t bother trying to talk to Aaron now. In fact, Aaron noticed that Robert didn’t seem to talk to anyone. He usually found Robert with the White sisters or listening to Finn geek out about something and yet these days Robert was often alone. But Aaron convinced himself that it wasn’t his problem. It Robert wanted to be alone than why should Aaron care? 

At the sudden beeping of his alarm, Aaron reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone, turning off his alarm and seeing that his phone had been blowing up with messages all night. He opened the group chat for their school year, scrolling up until he saw what all the drama was about. His heart dropped right to the pit of his stomach; Connor had sent some particularly damaging photos of Robert to the chat. Aaron scrolled through all the responses, struggling to read how cruel they were all being to Robert. Aaron would’ve felt bad if this was happening to anyone, but he felt even worse knowing it was happening to Robert, it’s not like Robert really had anyone to turn to. Aaron heaved himself out of bed, composing various draft text messages to send to Robert but in the end, he didn’t send anything. Robert didn’t need Aaron to interfere. 

Aaron approached Vic and Adam as soon as he reached the school gates, smiling a little. “How’s Robert?” he asked Vic.  
“Faking that he’s sick. I don’t blame him really, practically the whole school has seen those pictures now.” Vic frowned slightly as she spoke, walking towards the school doors with the two boys. “He’s scared that Dad will find out. He must be so embarrassed.”  
“Still can’t get over the fact he’s gay.” Adam commented, shaking his head a little.  
“Why do you have to label him?” Aaron frowned slightly though Adam took no notice as he and Vic continued to gossip.  
“I just think this makes sense doesn’t it? All his weird behaviour recently, it's all because of the gay thing.” 

Halfway through the day, Aaron spotted Robert walking outside and decided to follow him. Robert was wearing the hoodie he had borrowed from Aaron and he couldn’t help but smile when he noticed. Robert stopped when he reached the bike sheds, sitting down and pulling his hood up over his head. 

“You alright?” Aaron asked, standing in front of the blonde. “Vic said you were sick?”  
“Dad said I was well enough to come in. I’m just getting fresh air.” He shrugged, not looking up at Aaron. “Just say whatever you’ve got to say and leave, yeah? I’m not in the mood.”  
Aaron shook his head a little, moving to sit besides Robert. “You don’t have to push me away, you know? I thought you’d want a mate right now.”  
“But we’re not mates, are we? We’re nothing so go and waste your time somewhere else.” The blonde mumbled, his defences well and truly up. He felt so humiliated, every single person he walked past had seen the pictures of him and it made him feel sick to his stomach.  
“Rob, it’s not an issue if you’re gay, you know?” He spoke softly. “Vic thinks you taking the coke the other week is because of it too.”  
“I’m not gay. Piss off, will you?” He scoffed.  
“But if you were gay, it wouldn’t be an issue.” Aaron spoke, though he felt like a hypocrite since he didn’t feel this way about himself. “What you did with Connor looked pretty gay...”  
Robert glared at him, “Don’t talk about it like you know anything, you know nothing Aaron. You’ve got no idea how I’m feeling right now. Just leave me alone.”  
“I just don’t think you should be alone.”  
“Do you fancy me or something? I’m not gay, Aaron. Leave me alone.”  
“You can push me away all you want. It doesn’t change the fact that everyone’s seen Connor’s cock shoved down your throat, Robert. So quit the whole act and stop treating me like shit. I don’t see anyone else bothering to be here for you right now, do you?” He raised his voice a little, watching as Robert’s face fell. “Now stop being an asshole. I don’t care if you’re gay or-”  
“Bi…” Robert whispered, interrupting him. “I think I’m bisexual. I thought I was doing so well at being normal after it happened and then we argued, and he posted those pictures.”  
“Normal? What’s normal, Robert?”  
“Being straight. I want to be straight, but I just can’t stop myself, can I? If my dad found out he’d kill me.” Frustrated, he pulled his knees up to his chest as he looked at Aaron.  
“It’s not really a choice, Robert. I don’t think you can just decide to be straight. It wont change how you feel.” He set his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “You’re going to feel like shit your whole life if you bury who you are.”  
“And since when have you been the expert?”  
“I’m not. I just don’t think its healthy, is it? Keeping massive secrets like that. It’ll just eat you up. Besides it’s going to be a little hard to deny it now everyone has seen those pictures.”  
“I thought me and him were the real deal, you know?” Robert sighed and Aaron couldn’t help but notice how frail he looked. Robert stared at Aaron for a second, time seemed to move slowly as he leant in, brushing his lips against Aaron’s only to be immediately pushed away.  
“Don’t, Robert.” He whispered, moving to stand up. “I need to get to class. Just don’t let Connor get to you, yeah?” he rushed off, leaving Robert feeling nothing but rejected as he sat on the cold concrete by the bike sheds. He’d fucked up yet again.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds out about Robert's sexuality while Aaron tries to make amends.

Over the next week, Robert did whatever he could to avoid Aaron. Even when the other boy would see him and offer him a brief yet sympathetic smile, Robert would just put his head down and avoid him. By Wednesday, Robert’s dad had found out about the pictures and was waiting for Robert when he came home from school. 

Jack stood up as Robert walked into the kitchen, his arms folded across his chest. “I think we need to talk, don’t you?” The man spoke, looking at his teenage son, who just shrugged his shoulders at his father.

“What about?” Robert asked, his eyes cast down at the floor, unable to make eye contact with the man that had raised him. 

“Don’t play dumb, Robert! It’s not like there’s not plenty of evidence of what you did.” He raised his voice, Robert finally looking up at him. “Andy told me everything, you’re making an embarrassment of our family, don’t you see that?”

“You’re acting like I wanted you to find out.” Robert shrugged; he knew that he couldn’t exactly lie his way out of this one. Everyone had seen the pictures. “It was just a bit of fun; it doesn’t mean anything.” He spoke, stepping backwards as his father moved towards him. 

“Robert, you’re gay!” Jack grabbed his son by the collars of his school shirt. “And you couldn’t do the right thing and just pretend to be normal, could you? You had to get yourself into trouble. I bet you like all the attention you’re getting now, don’t you?” He spat his words at him, his grip so tight that Robert couldn’t move.

“You think I wanted everyone to see those pictures? You don’t think I feel embarrassed enough without you having a go at me as well?” Robert squirmed to try and get out of Jack’s grip. The boy’s blonde hair falling in front of his face. “Get off me!”

“Your mother would be ashamed of you; you know that don’t you? She wouldn’t be able to look you in the eye. I bet she’s turning in her grave knowing that her son is a faggot!” Jack’s words stung him, Robert’s heart breaking at the thought of him upsetting his mum in any way. He loved her more than anything. 

“It’s not like I can change any of this, can I? It’s not my fault.” Robert protested, still trying to get out of Jack’s iron-like grip. His father raised his hand, punching Robert hard in the face causing the teen to bite down on his lip upon impact. As soon as Jack saw the blood pouring from his son’s mouth, he let go of him, the wall being the only thing keeping Robert vertical as the tears threatened to pour from his green eyes. 

“Go to your room! Get out of my sight, Robert!” 

Robert did his best not to leave his bedroom at all that night, sneaking off to school before his siblings had woken and while his dad was out in the field with the sheep. He walked to the bus stop in the village, kicking a stone along as he walked. He just wanted to distract himself since his mind was clouded with so many dark thoughts that Robert didn’t know what do. He had around an hour to kill before the school bus would arrive in the village, so he sat himself down in the bus shelter and shoved his earphones in, in an attempt to drown out his thoughts. 

The teenager wasn’t aware of Aaron’s arrival until the other boy nudged him, a look of concern written all over Aaron’s face as Robert pulled one of his earphones out. “What do you want?” Robert asked him, still rather embarrassed about the other day with Aaron. 

“You don’t usually get the school bus.” Aaron shrugged a little, studying Robert’s face for a moment. He took in the dark bruising to Robert’s cheek and the deep cut in the other boy’s bottom lip. “Have you had another bust up with Andy?” 

Robert shook his head, turning to look away from Aaron though that didn’t stop the faint blush appearing on his cheeks. “No. My dad actually.” He told Aaron, fiddling around with the wire of his earphones. “Andy told him about the pictures. Why do you care anyway?” 

Aaron sighed deeply, “Obviously I care, Rob. Just because I’m not gay, it doesn’t mean I can’t be concerned for you.” He spoke, as much as he wanted to support Robert it was hard for Aaron to face his own feelings when he was exposed to all of Robert’s turmoil. “Stop pushing me away, it’s not like you’ve got many other mates to choose from.”

“Maybe I don’t want any mates?”

“So, you’ll just keep walking around school like a loner, will you?” Aaron asked him. “Everyone will forget about this soon and your dad will get over it too. Time’s a healer.” 

Robert scoffed bitterly, “Are you kidding? My dad won’t ever get over this. I’ve always been a massive disappointment to him, this just adds to it. I’m a blight on everyone else’s lives.” 

“You’re not a disappointment, Rob. You’re amazing and the sooner you realise that then maybe you’ll stop being so hard on yourself.” Aaron spoke softly, “Now put a smile on that face of yours, yeah? You can sit with me and Adam today, we’ll make sure nobody says anything to you.” 

“I don’t need protecting, Aaron.”

“Maybe not. But you do need some proper mates so don’t start complaining.” Aaron moved to stand up once he saw the bus. “Come on, farmboy.” 

Robert smiled slightly at the playful insult, standing up and following Aaron on to the school bus, sitting next to the boy and watching as the other kids all rushed to file on too. Adam Barton being the last one on the bus and flopping himself down in the seat in front of Robert and Aaron. 

“What’s up boys?” Adam greeted them, a stupid smile on his face that made Robert question how it was possible for anyone to be so energetic in the morning. Adam didn’t exactly like Robert, but he didn’t hate him either, which was a lot better than how most people felt towards Robert. Besides if Aaron thought Robert was okay enough to be around then Adam wouldn’t question it. “Have you done the maths homework?”

“Do I look like I’ve done the maths homework?” Aaron laughed softly. “Did you, Rob?” 

Robert shook his head, looking at Adam. “No, sorry.” He mumbled; he felt a little vulnerable now the bus was filled with his peers. He hated knowing that every single person had seen those pictures of him, and it didn’t take very longer before Ross piped up. 

“Didn’t know you two were gay.” Ross spoke, looking at Adam and Aaron. “You after a three-way with him or something?” He spoke, that shit-eating grin on his face like usual. 

Aaron rolled his eyes, “Ignore him, Robert.” He spoke softly, knowing that Ross was only doing all of this to wind Robert up. 

Adam looked at Ross, laughing a little. “Do you know how pathetic you sound, mate? Maybe we should be concerned about how desperate you are for Robert’s attention. Do you fancy him or something?” he retorted. 

Ross smirked, “Not in the slightest. I’m straight as a ruler. Wouldn’t mind a piece of your little sister though, Sugden.”

Robert glared at him, about to open his mouth when Aaron stood up, leaning over the aisle between the seats and grabbing Ross’ shirt. “Leave him alone, Ross. I mean it. You don’t want to know what will happen if I find out you’ve said something to him again.” Aaron warned, moving to sit back down after the bus driver yelled at him to. 

Robert’s heart rate couldn’t help but speed up a little. Why would Aaron even stick up for him when he could just stay well away? He felt like he was just falling more and more in love with Aaron, while Aaron didn’t like him in the slightest- or at least that was what Robert thought.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron's worried about Robert.

Robert spent the whole school day with Aaron and Adam, the three of them having a laugh despite everything. Robert walked into the last period English Literature class, which he usually enjoyed since he quite enjoyed reading, and went to take his usual seat when Connor pulled it out from beneath him and Robert fell to the floor with a thud, causing everyone in the class to laugh and Robert’s cheek to blush darkly. Aaron wasn’t even there to say anything since he was in another English set and Robert was pretty sure that Aaron hadn’t read a single book in his life.

“What the fuck was that for?” Robert scrambled back up to his feet, staring down at Connor, anger radiating through his body. He had trusted Connor with everything, and Connor had betrayed him and humiliated him. Robert hated him.

“It’s not my fault you fell, Robert.” Connor laughed, smirking up at his ex-lover. “Want me to kiss it better?”

Robert grabbed his bag, shaking his head a little. “You’re pathetic, Connor. You’re not even worth me wasting my breath on you. Stay away from, yeah?” he glared at him, storming out of the classroom and out of school without a second thought.

Hours passed after school finished and nobody had seen Robert. Jack had gotten a call from the school about him walking out and sent Andy out to look for him, while Vic went to find Adam and Aaron in hopes they’d know something. She found the two teenagers sat on the wall behind the pub, the pair of them laughing and joking as usual.

“Any of you two seen Robert?” She asked them as she approached, taking one of the sweets from the bag Adam was holding. “He stormed out of school and nobody has seen him since, won’t answer his phone or anything.”

Aaron instantly felt a pang of worry in his chest, he knew that Robert wasn’t exactly in the best place and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread over Robert doing something stupid. He took out his phone, texting Robert in hopes he’d tell him where he was. “No, not seen him.” Aaron shrugged slightly, not wanting Adam or Vic to think he was worried. “He’s probably just clearing his head and doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

Vic sighed a little, “Robert isn’t usually one to run off though, I think he likes confrontation. I know something happened with Connor when they were in English.”

“Well it’s not a shock that he wants to lay low after what your dad did to him last night.” Aaron mumbled. “All this is new to him, he’s trying to deal with it, and it doesn’t help that everyone is teasing him over it, does it?”

Adam shoved a sweet into his mouth, “Yeah but when have you ever seen Robert scared to get into a fight? He’s the cockiest person I know.”

“I know him, I know that this isn’t like him. I’m worried.” Vic frowned. “He hasn’t been this aloof since mum passed away.”

“Probably isn’t easy being outed in the way he was though.” Aaron shrugged. “Imagine the whole school seeing pictures of you with a cock down your throat, it’s not a shock that he’s upset. The shock is that he’s got nobody there to support him.”

“I’d support him!” Vic raised her voice defensively.

“Does he know that though? At Adam’s party the other week he was so cut up about something that he took a bunch of coke and I had to take him home and clean him up, did you know that? Do you know anything about your brother?” He spoke, his chest feeling all tight as he worried about Robert. “He’s hurting right now, and it doesn’t help that your dad’s knocking ten tonnes of crap out of him, does it?”

Vic shook her head, “Dad wouldn’t hit Robert, if he said that to you then he’s a liar.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about. You don’t even believe him. No wonder he feels so alone.” He moved to walk away from them both. “I’ll go out and find him, yeah? Let him know that someone out there does care.” He grabbed his phone, moving to call Robert as he walked off.

After a few rings, Robert answered the phone, sighing deeply as the call connected. “What do you want Aaron?”

“Where are you? Everyone’s worried.”

“If I tell you don’t tell anyone else, okay?” Robert spoke quietly, his voice a little wobbly like he had been or was crying.

“I won’t tell anyone. Where are you?” Aaron spoke calmly, he just wanted Robert to be safe.

“An old barn up on Moira’s farm. Wanted to go somewhere nobody would find me. It’s the old tool one, near the furthest field.”

“I’m on my way.” He ended the call, running off up to Moira’s.

Aaron was out of breath by the time he got to the barn, seeing Robert up on the roof and feeling that sense of dread again. “What are you doing up there, idiot?” He asked, trying to find the route Robert took to get up there when he spotted some ladders and figured that Robert had placed them there to get up. He began to climb up, sitting down besides Robert once he did.

“Just wanted to see you coming.” Robert turned to look at him, pulling out one of his earphones as he did so. “I like the view from up here, don’t you?”

“It’s alright.” Aaron shrugged. “I was worried you were planning to do something stupid. You weren’t, were you?”

“I don’t want to kill myself if that’s what you think? I know I’m a massive sad case but I’m not going to kill myself over Connor.” He scoffed, looking down at his hands. “Just wanted space to clear my head.”

Aaron nodded a little, nudging his shoulder against Robert’s. “Promise me?”

“Promise. But you don’t have to pretend to care, you know?”

“I’m not pretending, Rob. I do care. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” He looked into Robert’s eyes as the blonde turned to him. “I care about you so much more than you know.”

“Shut up.” Robert whispered, his guard up to try and protect himself. He had so many feelings and he couldn’t explain or even understand any of them.

“No. I mean it, Rob. I care about you.” Aaron continued. “Why do you think I’m here?”

“Maybe you’ve got a weird saviour complex or something?”

“Or maybe I’m in love with you.” Aaron spoke softly, the words falling from his mouth.

“Don’t.” Robert whispered. “I really can’t handle more jokes at my expense, Aaron. Just go, will ya?”

“I’m not joking. I love you and it’s scary, Rob. I don’t know how to handle all of this either.”

“Then don’t. Walk away right now and we’ll pretend you never said anything. You don’t want to be like me, Aaron. I mean it, just leave.”

“I can’t just pretend that I don’t feel this way, Robert and I know you feel it too.” Aaron spoke bravely, taking Robert’s cold hand into his. “I love you.”

Robert stared at him for a second, trying to work out if he was being lied to before he leaned in and kissed Aaron slowly. He brought his hand up to cup Aaron’s cheek as they kissed, a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach appearing. He’d never felt anything like it before and he wasn’t entirely sure what it was. He pulled away slowly, a blush on both teenager’s cheeks. Silently, Robert moved to rest his head on Aaron’s shoulder, the other boy wrapping his arms around the blonde as he began to cry, letting out all of the pent up emotions he had been feeling those past few days.


	6. 6.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The police show up at the farm.

When Robert arrived home later that night, he found his father waiting for him alongside two police officers. His heart sank as he looked at them, shrugging off his school blazer and hanging it up. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“Robert Sugden?” The male officer spoke, standing up to greet him. “We would like to speak to you. Take a seat.”

Robert looked at his dad before he looked back at the officer and moved to sit down. “What about?”

“We’ve been made aware of an incident regarding yourself and Connor Jensen.” The officer spoke softly, looking over at Robert. “Those pictures Connor shared of you are illegal and considering your age it’s classed as distributing child pornography.”

Robert tensed up a little, “Am I in trouble then? I didn’t even know that he’d taken the pictures and I didn’t ask him to share them, honest.” He spoke, his cheeks growing hot and blushing dark. “I don’t know why he did it. The first time I saw them was when I woke up on that morning.”

“We know. You’re not in any trouble, don’t worry.”

“Then why are you here? How did you even find out?” He asked, frowning deeply.

“We urge you to make a formal complaint against Connor. He committed a serious offense.”

“I don’t want to go to court or anything. It’s not worth it. I don’t want you lot seeing those pictures.” Robert moved to stand up, but Jack pushed him back down into his seat.

“Don’t be stupid, Robert. You’re going to give your statement to these officers, okay?” Jack spoke, glaring at them. “Just sit and answer their questions, will ya?”

Once Robert had given his statement to the police and received yet another lecture from his father, he finally trudged upstairs to his bedroom, sitting down on his bed and texting Aaron to tell him everything. Aaron being the only person Robert even dared to trust these days. He looked up from his phone when Victoria walked into his room, sitting down besides him.

“Don’t you knock?” Robert asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“I wanted to talk to you. What did the police say?” Victoria asked, nudging him a little. “Are they going to arrest Connor?”

“I think so.” Robert shrugged. “It’s not hard to find the evidence is it? So, I guess he’s in trouble.”

Vic smiled softly, “Are you glad I told them then?” She asked him and immediately Robert’s face dropped.

“You called the police?!” He raised his voice. “Why would you do that Vic? Did you just want to humiliate me even more or something?” 

“I didn’t want to humiliate you. Aaron just thought you needed some support; I was trying to show you that I care-”

She was interrupted by Robert, shaking his head. “Get out Vic. Leave me alone. Do you know how embarrassing all of this already is without having to sit there and go through every last detail with dad listening? Get out!” He snapped; he was so ashamed about everything. Robert felt like he could never look Jack in the eyes again. He watched as Vic left the room, laying down on the bed and burying his head into his pillow. If the world would’ve ended in that moment, then Robert would’ve been the happiest person on earth.

It was much later that night when Robert was creeping down the stairs, the sound of his dad’s snoring rattling the house as he slipped on his shoes and skulked out of the front door and out into the cold night. It was pitch black out as Robert headed down the country roads towards the village in hopes of getting to the pub without anyone noticing him. He stood below Aaron’s window, texting him to know that he was there and waited patiently until Aaron snuck down the stairs and let him inside.

“You alright?” Aaron whispered, wrapping his arms around Robert. “Look at you, you’re freezing.”

“I’m fine.” Robert whispered, holding Aaron tightly. Only now that he was in the warmth of Aaron’s arms had be even realised that he had neglected to grab a jacket before he left. “Just needed to see you.”

“Let’s get you upstairs.” Aaron took his hand, leading Robert up to his bedroom as silently as he could. He turned on his bedroom light and grabbed a hoodie for Robert, throwing it over to him. “Put this on. Warm yourself up.”

Robert nodded, pulling on Aaron’s hoodie and sitting down on his bed, kicking his shoes off. Aaron soon sat besides him, brushing his shoulder against Robert’s.

“Want to talk about everything?” Aaron asked, watching as the blonde quickly shook his head. “Then what do you want?”

“Can you just lay with me or something?” Robert asked him, shivering despite wearing Aaron’s clothes. Aaron smiled slightly, moving to lay down with Robert, wrapping his arm around the other teenager’s waist. “Vic told me that she had called them, probably just wanted to embarrass me even more.” He spoke quietly, his head buried against Aaron’s shoulder.

“I don’t think she wanted to embarrass you, Rob. She loves you and she cares about you. I think she was trying to help.” Aaron spoke softly, he didn’t want Robert to fall out with Vic, Robert needed as much support as he could get right now. “Besides Connor deserves to get into trouble for this. It’s a serious offense and why should he get away with it?”

“But it just makes me some pathetic victim, doesn’t it?” Robert asked, his voice hitching slightly.

“It doesn’t. I’m so proud of you, Rob.” Aaron smiled slightly, “You’re not some pathetic victim, you’re Robert. You’re that cocky farm boy who gets on my nerves half the time.”

Robert laughed a little, “As opposed to being a mouthy chav like you?” he joked.

“Haven’t lost your sense of humour then, have ya?” Aaron grinned, gently running a hand through Robert’s soft hair. “I promise that things will get easier, but Connor has to be punished and I’ll stick by you every single step of the way, Rob. You’re not alone.”

“Promise?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I know you don’t want to be out so it’s not like you’re going to want to be around me in public.”’

“We can still hang out though, can’t we?” Aaron shrugged. “Stop worrying for a second, yeah? Just believe me when I tell you that things will be alright, and I won’t stop supporting you.”

Robert nodded, a hint of a smile on his freckly face. “Night Aaron.” He mumbled, cuddling as close as he could to the other boy.

Aaron held onto him as he fell asleep, he was still worried about Robert. He knew all of this was taking its toll on Robert and Aaron couldn’t lose him. Robert didn’t deserve any of this. Nobody did. And Aaron really did mean it when he said that he would standby Robert through everything.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor is arrested and Robert tries to take his relationship with Aaron to the next level.

Aaron left Robert in bed when he woke the next morning for school, he looked far too peaceful and Aaron didn’t have the heart to wake him up. He left him a scribbled note, telling him that he had left for school and to try and lay low from Aaron’s mum, Chas.

Aaron took his seat, behind Robert’s brother Andy, in English class. Andy was sat besides Ross Barton and the pair of them were gossiping, Aaron wasn’t usually interested in school gossip until he heard the conversation turn to Robert. 

“At least with Robert suddenly becoming a fag, or whatever he is, he’ll stay away from my Katie.” Andy commented before Aaron kicked the back of his chair hard.

“Leave it out, will ya? Your brother’s getting enough shit without you calling him.” Aaron spoke, his brow furrowed angrily. “Maybe you could be a little nicer to him.”

“Since when have you cared about Robert?” Andy scoffed. “Maybe I’d be a little more sympathetic if he wasn’t such a dick all the time. You saw what he was like at Adam’s party. He’s an idiot. He’s probably done all this for the attention.”

“You really think someone would do any of this on purpose? He’s gutted about all of this. How would you like anyone seeing pictures of you like that?”

“Look Aaron, the only thing Robert is upset about is that he’s not getting enough attention off dad because of it.” Andy shrugged. “You don’t need to feel bad for him.”

“I don’t feel bad for him. I just don’t think it’s anyone’s business but his.”

“Exactly-” Ross piped up. “It’s Robert’s business not yours. Keep your nose out, Aaron.”

Aaron tried to avoid everyone, except for Adam, for the rest of the day. The pair of them were sat together in the canteen, when a police officer aided by a teacher walked into the canteen and over to Connor’s table, arresting the teenager in front of the rest of their year group. Aaron watched was Connor was dragged away, a satisfied smirk on his face. He wanted justice for Robert and once the day was done, he rushed home to tell Robert the news.

He found his boyfriend? Was that even what they were? Aaron had no idea. He found Robert in his bedroom, the other boy still wearing Aaron’s hoodie and Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Robert.

“Finally awake then?” Aaron spoke, passing Robert a bar of chocolate he had bought him from the shop on his way home. “Guess what happened today?”

“What?” Robert smiled slightly, opening the chocolate bar and taking a bite. He had always had a sweet tooth and the chocolate bar was enough to soothe the hunger pains he had woken up with.

“Connor got arrested in front of everyone.” Aaron told him, laying back against his pillows. “Hopefully all this will be over soon, and you’ll get some justice.”

Robert nodded slightly, leaning against Aaron. “I guess so. I don’t know it’ll make me feel better though. Even if he gets in trouble, everyone has already seen those pictures, they’ve all probably got screenshots of them.” He sighed, “Maybe I’ll just never go outside again.”

“Don’t say that. You’ll become some recluse.” Sighing softly, Aaron gently ran a hand through Robert’s hair.

“Would you not fancy me if I became some weird old hermit?” Robert laughed, the sound of his laughter giving Aaron butterflies.

“I’d fancy you no matter what. As long as you don’t go bald or anything.” The teen retorted.

“That was my second plan actually.” Robert moved to straddle Aaron’s waist, cupping his cheeks as he leant in to kiss him.

The two boys made out for a little while, Robert gently running his hand through Aaron’s hair, noticing that when the boy hadn’t used a whole pot of gel on it, it was quite fluffy and curly. He couldn’t help but grin as he broke the kiss, looking down at Aaron. He looked into Aaron’s blue eyes, seeing nothing but adoration and honesty. He could trust Aaron, he knew that. Aaron wasn’t like anyone else that Robert had ever met. He was a genuine good person, the only person who cared about Robert- or that’s how it felt at least.

“I love you.” Robert whispered and he truly meant it. Nobody had ever made him feel so safe before, not since Sarah was alive. He wanted to impress Aaron, wanted to keep Aaron interested in him and the only way Robert thought he could was by moving his hand, pressing it against Aaron’s crotch. Though Aaron didn’t react like Robert had intended, instead he pushed away his hand and moved to get up from the bed.

“What are you doing?!” Aaron asked, looking a little spooked since he had never really done anything sexual, let alone with a guy or someone he liked as much as Robert.

“I’m sorry, I-” Robert blushed deeply, not able to look at the other boy. “I’m going to go.” He whispered, getting up and pulling his shoes on. He felt so ashamed of himself, once again feeling rejected. Mortified, Robert rushed out of Aaron’s bedroom and out of the pub. Heading home to face the consequences of being such a fuck up. Aaron shouted after him as he rushed off, but he had to ignore him before he messed up even more. He just couldn’t get anything right and now he had scared Aaron away. The other boy probably thought he was some sort of sex-crazed whore or something. Andy and Jack were right, Robert was and would continue to be a screw up for as long as he walked the planet.


	8. 8.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie's suspicions arise.

Robert rushed inside the house, expecting to come face-to-face with his father though he didn’t. Instead he found Victoria and Andy watching television together in the living room, his little sister stuffing her face with a packet of crisps as the siblings watched a movie. Andy turned to look at Robert, when the door opened, sitting up straighter when he saw his brother.

“Where did you run off to?” he asked him, causing Robert to shrug.

“Stayed at a mates house.”

“What mate? You don’t have any mates.” Andy retorted, a little smirk on his face as he antagonised his brother.

“I do have mates. Piss off.” Robert scowled down at Andy. “Where’s dad anyway?”

“On a date.” Vic piped up, looking over at Robert. “Left us money for a pizza but we didn’t order you anything. Sos.”

“A date with who?”

“Diane from the pub.” Vic told him. “So, don’t go ruining things for him, yeah? She seems nice.”

“What about mum?” Robert spoke, “Has he just forgotten about her or something?”

“Nobody has forgotten about her, Rob. He just can’t mope around forever, can he? Mum’s dead and she’s not coming back. It’s time he moved on.” Vic spoke, looking at her older brother who looked less than happy.

Robert shook his head, mumbling how they were all ridiculous as he headed upstairs, bumping straight into Katie. “Great, what are you doing here?” He rolled his eyes. He hated Katie. All she did was cause trouble for him with Andy.

“Better question, what are you doing wearing Aaron’s hoodie?” Katie spoke, a smirk on her face that Robert wished he could just slap off.

“It’s not Aaron’s. It’s mine.” Robert shrugged a little, shoving his hands into the pocket at the front of the hooded jumper.

“I can tell when you’re lying, you know? So, you were staying at Aaron’s house? What would Aaron want to be nice to you for, huh?” Katie teased him, looking Robert up and down. “Not only is he a thug but gay as well? Interesting.”

“He’s not gay.” The scowl on Robert’s face was fixed in place.

“No? Then why are you so defensive?”

“I’m not. He’s just not gay. Leave him alone.” Robert tried to step around her.

“I wonder what Andy is going to think when he finds out his brother is sleeping with the local thug. What’s your dad going to think?” She continued to tease him, clearly getting a lot of joy from tormenting Robert.

“Well he’s alright with Andy dating the village bike, isn’t he?” Robert spoke, looking down at her. “I’m not sleeping with anyone, Katie. Leave Aaron out of this.”

“Then why are you being so protective of him?”

“Because he’s the only mate I’ve got right now. I don’t want you pushing him away.” Robert shrugged. “He gave me his hoodie because I didn’t have a jacket and it’s freezing out.”

“I’ll find out what’s really going on, you know?” Katie warned him. “Whatever the truth is, I’ll find out and tell everyone.”

“Well good luck with that, weirdo.” Robert rolled his eyes, going into his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Katie was the last thing he needed right now. As if things weren’t already bad enough for him without Robert having yet another millstone around his neck. He took his phone out of pocket, seeing a bunch of texts from Aaron and sighing a little. He didn’t want to read them, didn’t want Aaron to fall out with him over all of this though he knew he couldn’t torture himself by ignoring the texts for too long. Though to Robert’s surprise, Aaron didn’t appear to be mad at him from the texts. In fact, Aaron was rather apologetic for freaking out. The boy’s easily patching things up, for now anyway. Though Aaron would hate that Katie was onto them. So now all Robert had to do was keep Katie out of his business which was definitely easier said than done. 

Katie sat down besides Andy, leaning against him. “Robert’s home then?”

“Sadly.” Andy shrugged. “Don’t worry, he’ll run off again before we know it. Best not to give him any attention or he won’t learn. Gotta treat him like a dog sometimes.” He laughed, everyone taking great delight from Robert’s predicament despite the severity of it. Nobody really understood how he was feeling or even cared to consider his feelings, except for Aaron.

Katie laughed a little, “Did he say where he’d been staying?”

“Just a mate’s house apparently but he doesn’t exactly have any mates, so I’ve got no idea.”

“He’s got Aaron.” Vic spoke, looking over at them. “They’ve been spending a lot of time together recently.”

“Probably planning something knowing Robert. When things start going wrong around the village, we’ll know it’s those two that are responsible.” Andy commented. He didn’t have anything against Aaron, but he had heard of his reputation.

“Or maybe Robert fancies him? You know with him being gay now?” Katie suggested.

“I don’t think Aaron would be his type if he likes boys like Connor. Aaron couldn’t be more different. Besides, Aaron isn’t gay.” Vic shrugged.

“Well we didn’t think Robert was gay until all this happened, did we?” Katie reminded her. “Maybe he likes a little bit of rough?” She smirked slightly, satisfied that she was implementing the idea that Robert and Aaron may be a thing in their heads. It was time for Katie to get her revenge after all the years of Robert tormenting her and Andy, and she’d stop at nothing to get her revenge.


	9. 9.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. A new goal for Aaron and some devastating news for Robert.

Robert spent his school days trying to stay out of people’s way, even for someone who enjoyed confrontation he didn’t want to deal with the constant harassment that came with being exposed the way he was. He kept interactions with Aaron to a minimum in school in order to avoid any suspicion, he feared someone putting two and two together and Aaron breaking up with him. Though after school the boy’s shared a lot of time together, in Aaron’s bedroom, above the pub.

Robert flopped down onto Aaron’s bed, listening as the other teen was explaining some deal, he’d struck with his Uncle Cain. Aaron was going to start working at the garage and as payment Cain was going to help Aaron fix up an old car ready for his seventeenth birthday. Robert couldn’t help but find it adorable how happy Aaron seemed about the proposition, the boy hadn’t stopped talking about it since Robert arrived fifteen minutes ago, and it was quite unique for the usually grumpy teenager to be so talkative. 

“You know your birthday isn’t for months, right?” Robert pointed out. “It’s like eleven months of free labour that you’ll be doing.” 

“Not everything is about money, you know?” Aaron spoke, lightly slapping Roberts thigh to get him to roll over a little so that he could get on the bed too. Robert had a remarkable gift of taking up so much room despite being so skinny. 

“Sounds a bit like slavery, you know?” He joked. 

“It’s just like you helping out on the farm except I get a car and maybe a proper job out of it.” Aaron shrugged, watching as Robert sat up against the pillows. “Don’t be so negative. You’ll love it when I’m driving you around everywhere in my swanky new car.”

“Like I’m going to trust your driving.” Robert laughed a little, moving to nudge the other boy. “You’ll be just another boy racer.”

“As opposed to you, Mr Sensible?” Aaron moved to nudge him back. “You’re just jealous because I’ll get my licence first, aren’t you?” Laughing, he moved to straddle Robert, pinning him down against the bed. “Admit it, admit you’re jealous!”

Robert shook his head, wriggling around under Aaron to try and escape. “Nope, not jealous at all.” He laughed, freeing his arms from Aarons grasp and moving to cup the other boy’s cheeks. He leant up, hoping to distract Aaron as he brushed their lips together. Though his plan was cut short when Chas yelled up the stairs to let Robert know that Jack was waiting outside for him, despite that not being the plan. 

After quickly saying his goodbyes to Aaron, Robert headed down to Jack’s car. Jack took the boy home, sitting the kids down at the kitchen table. Robert couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing as Jack told the three teenagers that he was getting re-married, and his sibling’s reactions didn’t help either as everyone, but Robert, was happy for Jack. 

“I’m sorry, have you forgotten about Mum already?” Robert spoke, the boy’s brow furrowed as he stared at his dad in disbelief. The news coming just a week before what would’ve been Sarah’s birthday. “You’re all ridiculous. You’re just forgetting about her like she was nothing.”

“It’s not like that, Robert. But we can’t all mope around forever, I have to move on at some point” Jack spoke, looking down at his son. It wasn’t often that he and Robert saw eye to eye these days, but he’d hoped that his son would be happy with his news. 

“Her body is barely cold, and you’ve decided to just marry the first slapper that came along.” Robert moved to stand up from the table. “And these two idiots have just accepted it like its nothing.” 

“Rob, don’t talk to him like that.” Andy spoke, sighing a little as he looked at his adopted brother. The last thing Andy needed was for Robert to get angry and tell everyone who really caused Sarah’s death. 

“All I’m asking is for a you to all show a little loyalty to our dead mum.” Robert spoke, “Or do none of you know what that is? She deserved so much better than a family like this one.”   
“Do you really think you’re any better than us?” Andy spoke. “Mum would’ve been so disappointed if she saw the way you turned out. She would’ve hated you Rob and that’s what you can’t stand. She always used to say how much of a horrible person you were, and you’ve not changed one bit. Your problem isn’t with dad getting married, its because you know you have done nothing but make mum and dad ashamed of you.” 

Andy’s words seemed to burn a hole right into Robert’s heart, the boy getting a pain in the pit of his stomach as he headed upstairs without another word, worried he’d expose Andy and Jack’s secret in the heat of the moment and break Vic’s heart. Even Robert wouldn’t be that cruel. He couldn’t help but believe Andy though, Robert never did anything good, he was nothing like Sarah and all he had ever wanted to do was make Jack and Sarah proud of him. It felt like recently, whenever the misunderstood teenager got close to being happy something else would just come along and ruin it for him.


	10. 10.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron starts his first job and the boys finally get some alone time.

Soon enough, Aaron began working at the garage and it became harder for Aaron and Robert to spend time together, which soon left Robert feeling even more alienated. With the wedding planning going on at home, he often opted to just hang around the village waiting for Aaron’s breaks. He more often than not found himself at the cricket pavilion revising for his exams coming that summer, trying to pass the time until he could have the company of his boyfriend. 

After checking the time on his phone in ten-minute intervals since Aaron’s Saturday shift began, Robert couldn’t help but smile when he noticed that it was now Aaron’s lunch break. He grabbed his bag, packing away his notes and heading over to the garage. He didn’t see Cain anywhere, so he walked up behind Aaron as he worked, covering the boy’s eyes with his hands. “If you can guess who correctly you get a prize,” He spoke. 

“I’m gonna have to guess that it’s you Robert. Since nobody else in this village would dare put their hands on me like this.” Aaron laughed, spinning around to look at Robert. “I’ll have my prize now, thanks.” 

The blond leaned forward, pressing his lips against Aaron’s quickly before he pulled away. “Happy?” He asked, a big smile on his face. “My dirty little grease monkey.” 

“Would’ve been happier if you had brought me some lunch but a kiss will do.” Aaron spoke, dipping his finger in the oil from the car he was working on and wiping it on Robert’s cheek. “Who’s the grease monkey now?” 

“Still you,” Robert hummed, screwing his face up after Aaron wiped the oil on him. “You know you look really good in those overalls, never thought id be saying that.” 

“Shut up, you.” Aaron smiled, folding his arms across his chest as he leant against the car bonnet. “Have you spent all day swatting away again?” 

“I’m not a swat, I just want an actual chance of passing my exams, so I don’t get stuck working on the farm forever like Andy.” He spoke, moving to open his bag. “And I did bring you lunch.” He moved to pass Aaron the sandwiches he had made. 

The two boys spent Aaron’s lunch together but soon enough he had to go back to work and begrudgingly Robert headed home to the farm. Over the next few weeks, he took every chance he got to see Aaron and eventually he got the chance to stay over at Aaron’s for the night. He headed to the pub, going up to Aaron’s room. They spent the night playing video games, or rather Aaron spent the night beating Robert on every game they played. Eventually the boys got into bed and Robert moved, sliding his hands under Aaron’s t-shirt as he leaned in to kiss him, though he was very quickly pushed away. 

He furrowed his brow a little as he looked at Aaron, “What’s wrong?” He asked, “I thought you’d be up for it?” 

Aaron sat up quickly, looking down at the other boy. The atmosphere in the room quickly becoming hostile. “Why would I be up for it? Why would anyone be up for anything with you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He moved to sit up, he couldn’t understand why Aaron kept rejecting him. 

“You know exactly what it means, Rob. Why would I want you of all people touching me? You disgust me. Who knows what sort of things you’ve picked up sleeping with half the school?” 

Robert couldn’t help but be confused, he just kept messing things up again and again with Aaron. “I…Aaron, you promised you didn’t think those things about me…” He felt his cheeks burn from his own embarrassment. “I thought you were into it?”

“Nobody is into you, Rob. You’re just easy.” Aaron sighed, laying back down but rolling the other way so he wouldn’t be facing Robert. “Just go to sleep.” 

And with Aaron’s last words, Robert lay back down awkwardly, laying awake all night as Aaron eventually drifted off to sleep. He got up early in the morning while Aaron was still asleep and headed home.


	11. 11.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's Wedding and Chas is in a relationship.

Robert did his best to stay away from Aaron over the next few weeks, which proved hard since Aaron was the closest thing Robert had to a friend, despite everything. He threw himself into his revision and that seemed to be proving itself useful at school since Robert was acing all his mocks. Since he was keeping to himself, he had managed to keep Jack happy for a while. He could hardly be mad at the boy who barely left his bedroom. Which also meant that Robert had managed to keep out of Katie’s way for a while too. For her, it was out of sight, out of mind. But God, Robert was bored. Going to school didn’t cure how lonely he felt since he spent most of his day alone, but he had been really hurt by the stuff Aaron had said, and he just wasn’t sure if he’d be able to accept Aaron’s apology. Sometimes, he decided, it’s better to be alone than to be with people who treat you badly. 

When Jack’s wedding rolled around, Robert reluctantly spent the morning getting ready. He had made sure he stayed clear of the wedding planning, unlike the other Sugden siblings who had been involved in mostly everything, including the guest list which is how Aaron ended up with an invite to the wedding. Vic had put him on the list since she was inviting Adam and because she thought having Aaron there might make Robert more enthusiastic about being there. Though her efforts were obviously futile. 

Aaron himself didn’t exactly want to go to the wedding but Chas had insisted since Diane had been such a good friend to her and the teenager. With the same reluctance as Robert, Aaron spent the morning getting ready, Chas forcing him into some stuffy suit and tie that made him just look like he was going to court. She had been seeing someone recently and she had promised Aaron that he would get to meet her boyfriend at the party after the wedding. 

Robert had promised Vic he’d be on his best behaviour all day, and so he spent the whole day just trying to blend in with the walls of the room. Seeing Aaron in the church made his heart drop, his throat sore with the feeling of swallowing razor blades and he was very quickly reminded of Aaron’s words. Of what everyone thought of him. The party around him was in full swing and Robert quickly realised he hadn’t cracked a smile all day, that was until Vic came over, dragging Robert to the dancefloor determined to make her big brother cheer up. And it worked, Vic always made it very hard for Robert to stay sulking, there was just something about his little sister’s light-hearted spirit that he loved, in fact sometimes he wished he could be as jovial as her, rather than harbour the bitterness he did. 

Even Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the scene in front of him, watching as the two siblings managed to invest some of the words worst dance moves. He had felt so bad about the way he treated Robert and after numerous ignored apologies he had just given up on the other boy. He sat with Chas after she’d gotten herself wasted since her boyfriend still hadn’t showed up. She was slumped against the chair, soon falling into a deep drunken slumber. That’s when Aaron spotted him. Gordon. His father. His blood ran cold, a chill running through his body as he quickly rose from his seat, heading out of the door as fast as he could, Gordon hot on his heels. 

Of course, Robert noticed this, he had kept his eyes on Aaron all night, secretly hoping the other boy would pay him some attention. He quickly made his excuses to Vic and headed outside to see what was going on. He stood around the corner as he listened to the father and son sniping at one another. Though at first, he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. He took a moment before he walked over to the two of them, getting between Aaron and his dad. He’d heard enough and he knew he needed to get Gordon away. He stared up at Gordon defiantly, “I think it's time you leave, don’t you?” 

“What’s it got to do with you?” Gordon spoke, glaring down at the teenager. 

“Rob, it okay…” Aaron started to speak from where he was behind Robert, his voice small and quiet, absolutely nothing like how he usually was. 

“It’s not okay, I heard everything you just said. He raped you.” Robert spoke, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at Gordon. How was a sixteen-year-old supposed to take on a grown man, if they got into some sort of fight here? “You raped him and now you think it’s okay to just walk in here and pretend nothing happened? You’re going to leave right now, or I’ll make you.” He spoke, his jaw clenched in anger as everything began to make sense in his head. No wonder Aaron kept snapping at him. He couldn’t understand it. How could any father do that to their child? He felt sick just looking at Gordon. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, kid.” Gordon spat; his words laced with hatred towards the teenager who was brave enough to stand up to him. "And neither does he." 

“I know exactly what I’m talking about and, if you don’t leave right now, everyone in there will find out too.” The pair of them stood there for a few moments before Gordon gave in, walking away from the two teenage boys, leaving Aaron with some explaining to do as Robert turned to look at him but instead he pushed passed him, running off and leaving Robert stood there alone.


	12. 12.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert takes matters into his own hands.

The only thing on Robert's mind all night was Aaron. He lay awake wondering where he was supposed to go from here. He had to help Aaron and keep Gordon away, but what was he supposed to do? He had no idea how to support Aaron through this sort of thing. Afterall he was only sixteen and he had never really encountered anything like this before.   
He headed to the pub first thing in the morning, going up to Aaron’s room after Chas let him in.  
“You awake?” He asked, looking down at the other boy as he lay in bed. He had no idea what he was going to say without putting his foot in it. He smiled slightly as Aaron grumbled and sat up. “Can we talk about last night?” 

“There’s nothing to talk about Robert. It has nothing to do with you.” 

“You can’t go through all this alone, Aaron. You supported me back when all that stuff happened. Let me help you this time.” He spoke, moving to sit at the foot of Aaron’s bed. 

“What exactly do you want me to say?” Aaron looked at him. “You know what happened, what else is there to talk about?” 

“Well…why haven’t you told anyone?” 

“I don’t know, I guess nobody would believe me. It’s embarrassing. He said nobody would ever believe me because I was always such a liar. He said he had to do it to keep me in line whenever I skipped school or something.” Aaron spoke, looking away from Robert. “You can’t tell anyone Robert; you have to promise me?” 

“But if you don’t say anything isn’t your mum going to keep seeing him?” He asked.

Aaron shrugged a little, “I guess, but she’d be broken if she found out. She’d just blame herself for leaving me with him.” 

“Well… if the shoe fits and all that-“Robert mumbled, quickly shutting up when Aaron shot him a look. “I just mean, she brought him back into your life when its her job to protect you. She needs to know, Aaron.”

“Just leave it, Rob. Okay?” Aaron sighed. “Just go home. I don’t need your help.” 

Aaron avoided Robert as best he could, he didn’t want Robert poking his nose in and making things worse for him, but Robert just couldn’t leave things how they were. He started seeing Gordon every time he went into the village and the thought that something was going on in the pub made Robert feel sick to the stomach. He was sat outside of the café with Vic, the pair of them having grabbed a milkshake to avoid helping up at the farm.

“Go on then, are you going to tell me what you’re thinking about?” Victoria asked, looking over at her brother as his face grew more confused. “You’ve got your thinking face on. What are you planning this time?”

“I’m not planning anything.” Robert spoke, looking up from his drink. “I just… I know something and I want to do the right thing. You’re good at all that stuff, right?” 

“I guess it depends on what you know.” Vic shrugged. “What is it?”

“If you knew something bad was happening to someone, would you say something?” He asked. 

“What exactly do you mean by bad?” She asked. 

He shook his head. “Nothing, Vic. Forget it.” He stood up, throwing his milkshake in the bin. “I need to get back to the farm.” He rushed off, following Gordon. 

That evening, it was just Robert and Jack in the house. Robert stood in the doorway to the living room for a second, watching as Jack had his feet up on the coffee table, watching tv. He took a deep breath before he stepped into the room. “Hey,” He spoke, sitting down on the couch.

“You’re finally speaking to me again?” Jack asked, turning to look at his son. 

“I need your help, Dad.” Robert spoke, fiddling around with his fingers nervously. “And you helped Andy when all that stuff happened with mum… so you need to help me this time.” 

“What have you done?” 

“I…you know Gordon, Aaron’s dad?” He looked at Jack. “He’s been hurting him…not beating him, he’s been…you know…he raped him. And I found out and I had to do something, Dad. He’s been walking around the village like nothing happened.”

“What did you do?” Jack asked, interrupting his son.

“I followed him.” He bit his lip a little, trying to find the words to explain to Jack what he had done. “I hit him over the head. I was so angry, Dad. I..snapped, i just... They’ll have found him by now. I took some of his things, I thought then it would just look like a mugging gone wrong.” He moved, setting Gordon’s wallet down on the table. 

Jack stared at him in disbelief for a second before he moved to pick up the wallet, throwing it on the roaring fire that was lighting the room. “You leave the clothes you were wearing in the hamper and I’ll get rid of them too. Just go to your room and keep it together, Robert. This stays between me and you, okay? Not even Aaron finds out what you did. Go on, go upstairs.” 

Robert nodded a little, hanging his head as he got up and headed up to his bedroom. If Gordon was dead, then he was a murderer. He’d go to prison for years. He lay himself down on his bed, hoping he had done the right thing by telling his father. All he had wanted to do was help Aaron. Aaron deserved to be safe in his own home. Safe from his pathetic excuse for a father. Even if that meant Robert getting into trouble.


	13. 13.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter. Father and Son reconcile.

Robert woke in the morning as the foot of his bed began to dip with the weight of Jack sitting down. He opened his eyes, his brow furrowed as he looked over at his father. It wasn't usual for Jack to wake Robert up this way. "What's going on?" He asked, moving to prop himself up on his elbows. His head felt heavy from lack of sleep. 

"I nipped into the village this morning," Jack spoke, looking down at his son. He couldn't help but feeling overwhelmed as he realised just how young his son was. Robert often acted much older than his years but Jack, in that moment, couldn't help but realise that Robert was nowhere near being an adult. "Chas was telling Diane all about how they found Gordon. He's dead, Robert. Is that what you wanted?" 

"Does it make me an awful person if it was?" Robert asked, looking away from Jack and at the digital clock next to his bed that was flashing with the time. 1:04PM. 

"I don't think so, son." Jack spoke. "Aaron must really mean a lot to you for you to do something like this though?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Robert spoke, perhaps a little too defensively, but he didn't want to hurt Aaron more by having people find out about them. "I just thought it was the right thing to do. People like Gordon don't deserve to just walk around like they're not monsters."

"I know." Jack spoke, "Perhaps i've been a little too harsh on you recently and I'm sorry for that, Rob. What you did for that boy was brave and I'm proud of you. Just make sure we keep it to ourselves, okay?" 

Robert nodded, smiling a little as he watched Jack leave the room. He reached for his own, texting Aaron to meet him up at the old barn. Aaron soon arrived, immediately wrapping his arms around the blond boy and burying his head against Robert's chest. Robert moved to hold him close, "I've got you, Aaron. It's okay," He whispered. 

"Did you hear about what happened?" Aaron asked, his voice sounding so small and hoarse from the tears he had been crying that day. "My mum's heartbroken." 

"That's because she doesn't know what he was really like." He whispered. "I'm so sorry, Aaron."

"It's just so hard, you know? Pretending like him being dead is the reason I'm upset. Not because of what he did to me." 

"I'm so sorry," Robert spoke softly, gently rubbing Aaron's back as he held onto him. "But... at least this way he can't hurt you again, right? You're safe now."

"I know," He sighed softly, "I guess I'll just have to keep pretending, as long as you keep it to yourself?"

Robert nodded, gently squeezing Aaron's hand as he pulled away from the hug. "I promise." He spoke softly, "I'm sorry I pressured you to tell on him." 

The two boys spent the rest of the day together, cuddled up in the old barn as Robert did his best to comfort Aaron without letting anything slip. It wouldn't be long before people started asking questions about how such a seemingly ideal man could end up dying in such a way. Robert just hoped Jack really was serious about helping him.


	14. 14.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon's funeral.

A few weeks passed while the police were investigating Gordon's murder but their investigation soon ran dry, meaning that for now Robert was in the clear. He had seen Aaron almost every single day in order to try and support him through everything and when Gordon's funeral rolled around Robert had agreed to attend with Aaron. He got himself ready, sighing as he looked in the mirror for a second. The last funeral he had been to was Sarah's and this couldn't have been more different. He just wanted to support Aaron, no matter what it took. He trudged down the stairs, furrowing his brows a little when he saw Jack in the kitchen wearing a suit. 

"What are you doing?" Robert asked. "Why are you wearing that?"

"I'm coming with you. There's no way I'm letting you go alone." Jack spoke, setting his hand on Robert's shoulder. "Come on you." He led the teenager outside to his car.

Throughout the funeral, Robert couldn't help but feel sick. He looked around, seeing how everyone was crying for Gordon and he felt so angry. Gordon didn't deserve any of this and yet Robert could do nothing about it. He kept his eyes on Aaron for the most part, silently praying that Aaron would be able to hold it together. Robert moved to undo his tie a little, opening the top button on his shirt in an attempt to cool down. He just felt trapped, like he was drowning under the pressure of telling the truth about Gordon, keeping Aaron safe and the weight of what he had done. Jack noticed as Robert shifted around a little uncomfortably during the service and nudged him slightly. "Do you need to step outside?" He whispered, worried his son would do or say something that may jeopardize everything. He knew that when Robert lashed out he tended to speak first and think later, he'd seen it happen plenty of times. 

Robert shook his head, taking his eyes off Aaron momentarily so he could glance at Jack. "No, I'm okay." He whispered, stepping away from Jack a little. He wanted to leave. He wanted to run out of there as fast as he could but Aaron was more important and he had promised Aaron that he would be there for him. He wouldn't let him down. 

Jack sighed, turning back towards the front of the room. He may have not been the best father at times but he was nothing like Gordon and he understood exactly where Robert was coming from. Gordon didn't deserve to just walk as a free man and his son had done the right thing. Jack vowed he'd protect his son from this. He was just scared of the teenager cracking under the pressure of keeping far too many secrets. 

After the funeral, Aaron headed to Robert's place. Jack had agreed that the boy could stay over and so Robert had dragged him up to his bedroom and shoved a movie on in hopes it would distract them both. The pair of them sat on Robert's bed, Aaron's head on Robert's shoulder as he tried to focus on the film, though that was proving rather difficult given the events of that day. He turned to look at Robert, "Since when did your dad let you have sleepovers?" He asked, just wanting to make conversation.

Robert shrugged a little, "He's been different recently, less angry at me I guess." He spoke, "He's probably just trying to get me to help out on the farm more." 

"Or maybe he's finally realised how amazing you are, huh?" Aaron smiled, nudging Robert.

"He's known that forever. Everyone does." Robert grinned. "Haven't you heard all the rumours about The Great Robert Sugden?"

"I've heard the rumours, not sure they're all that great though." 

Robert laughed a little, "Bit rude but I'll let it slide." He spoke, passing Aaron the controller for his playstation. "So shush and let me crush you at Fifa already." He hoped it would distract Aaron since the boy loved the game so much. 

When Aaron fell asleep that night, Robert headed to the bathroom, almost jumping out of his skin when he bumped into Katie in the hallway. "What are creeping around for?" He hissed, trying to keep his voice down. 

"Going to the bathroom-" Katie rolled her eyes, "Jack said you've got Aaron here?"

"What's that got to do with you?" 

"Well, he's heartbroken right now and here you are, being a rat as usual, using that against him." She shook her head. "It's disgusting, Robert. The last thing he needs is you using him. He'll see what sort of person you are eventually. I'll make sure of it." 

"You don't know anything, Katie. Aaron's not even gay. He's just a mate, I am allowed them you know?" He sighed. "You know your little obsession with me is getting out of hand. Does your boyfriend know you're obsessed with his brother's every move?" 

"I'm not obsessed with you, Robert. I just want everyone to see how vile you are."

"Right, well have fun with that, weirdo." Robert rolled his eyes, pushing passed her as he walked into the bathroom. The last thing Aaron needed was Katie sticking her oar in.


	15. 15.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Robert spend some time together.

Two weeks passed and things were still pretty rough for Aaron. Chas was still grieving for Gordon and he was still pretending like Gordon hadn't done those unspeakable things to him. The silver lining in all of this was Robert though. He had been amazing recently and Aaron wasn't sure that he would have been so strong without Robert's help. He spent a lot of his time up at the farm now, usually playing Robert's playstation while the other boy revised for their upcoming exams, that he was taking extremely seriously. They often just did their own thing, happy to be in the company of each other. 

Though this particular weekend, Aaron was back working at the garage and Robert was finding things at home pretty boring without him. So much so that everyone else in the house had picked up on his bad mood. He was a little like a bear with a sore head as he sulked around the house looking for some way of curing his boredom but nothing was quite the same without Aaron. He wandered into the kitchen, banging the cupboards around in search of something to eat, causing Andy to roll his eyes. 

"What's up with him?" Andy asked, looking at Vic as the two of them sat around the table. 

"Reckons he's bored." Victoria shrugged, not really wanting to get into it with her brother. 

"Missing Aaron more like-" Andy mumbled, looking over at Robert. "Isn't it funny how you only have one friend and even he prefers everyone else to you. I saw him with Adam before,they looked like they were having a great time."

Robert looked over at him, his jaw tensed as he stared at his brother. He knew Andy was only trying to get a rise out of him but he couldn't help but find some truth in his brother's words. Adam was Aaron's best friend, his friendship with Robert probably didn't come close in comparison and that hurt since Aaron meant absolutely everything to Robert. "Shouldn't you be more worried about where Katie is?" He spoke, "You know what it's like dating the village bike, if you take your eyes off her for too long then she'll just find herself in someone else's bed." 

Jack heard the boy's sniping and walked into the room, fixing his flat cap on his head. "That's enough you two, Andy you're supposed to be up on the top field and Robert you can come into Hotten with me. Get your jacket." 

Begrudgingly, Robert followed his dad out to the car. The pair of them spent the day in Hotten and Robert actually found himself enjoying the time he spent with his dad. They eventually sat down in a cafe to get some lunch after the teenager's almost constant whining. The pair of them ordered before Jack began to speak.

"What are you going to do when you leave school then? You've made it pretty clear you want nothing to do with the farm-" He spoke, looking over at Robert, who gave a non-committed shrug.

"College, probably." 

"And study what? You know I've seen some performing arts courses, what about that?"

Robert furrowed his brow, looking Jack a little confused. "What? Dancing and acting and stuff? When have I ever done anything like that?" 

"Well, you had that big part in the Christmas nativity, didn't you?" Jack spoke, shrugging a little. His intentions actually rather pure though definitely misdirected.

"When I was like six," Robert laughed. "What gave you the idea I'd want to do anything like that?" 

"Well... with you liking boys and all, I thought maybe you'd like to do something like that."

"Oh, I get it. You're being homophobic?" Robert laughed, shaking his head as he watched his dad squirm around in his seat. "It's sooo stereotypical that you think I'd like dancing just because I'm bisexual."

"I'd didn't mean to offend you or anything, Rob. I just wanted to give you my blessing if you were into all that stuff or whatever," Jack sighed, "You know I'm no good at this stuff."

"Well luckily for you, I want to go to college and study English literature, business and accountancy." He looked back at Jack. "Not too gay for you, right?"

"No, impressive though. I didn't think you liked any of that stuff."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, I guess you should just ask instead of assuming next time. Me being bi changes nothing, you know? I'm still me. I just wish you'd get that." Robert sighed softly, picking up his drink. It might be a long road but he hoped that one day Jack would understand him.


	16. 16.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Robert's birthday.

Robert's birthday soon crept around the corner and the boy had only asked for Aaron to stay over and for Jack to let them get a takeaway. He wasn't the biggest fan of his birthday, especially without Sarah there but as he walked down the stairs that morning he couldn't help but smile when he saw the effort Vic and Diane had gone to. He'd been warming to his step-mother recently, there were worse people Jack could've married and Vic seemed to get along with her well. The pair of them had strewn birthday banners around the house and prepared a special breakfast for Robert. He ate with them before opening his cards and presents at the table. When everyone got up to get ready for the day, Jack pulled Robert aside, passing him a small black velvet box. 

"Here, Happy Birthday son." Jack spoke, watching as the boy opened the box and look back at Jack in slight confusion. "It's a ring, it's made from your mum's wedding band and a necklace I found of Pat's," He explained, "I got them melted down for you. I thought it would be nice for you to have a little something from them both. It's alright if you don't like it-" He mumbled, shifting slightly. He had tried really hard this year to get a present he knew Robert would appreciate and he hoped the present would act as some sort of apology for the way he'd treated his son over the years. 

"It's great, Dad." Robert smiled, taking the ring out of the box and taking a look at it. He moved, slipping the gold band onto his finger. "Thank you. I love it." 

The boy soon ran off upstairs when Aaron came over, the pair of them sitting in his bedroom. Robert hadn't tried to do anything since he found out the truth and Aaron really respected him for it. Robert was definitely his safe space and he wanted to show him how much he appreciated his support recently. He nudged Robert a little, passing him the birthday card he got him before he leant over and kissed Robert gently, "Happy Birthday, Sugden." He whispered, unable to stop himself smiling when he saw the goofy, surprised look on the other boy's face. 

Later that night, when Aaron was distracted by a video game, Robert headed downstairs to pick up the takeaway. He stood in the kitchen, watching as Jack plated the food up. "They officially closed Gordon's case. That's what Chas told Diane. You must be happy?" Jack spoke. 

"I'm just happy that he won't be hurting anyone anymore." Robert shrugged, leaning against the wall. "I wouldn't say I was proud of what I did though. I haven't really thought about it." 

"Perhaps that's best. But you know where I am if you feel like the pressure is getting too much, don't you?" Jack spoke, passing Robert the plates before the boy went off upstairs, unaware Katie had heard their conversation.

A few days after Robert's birthday, Adam had dragged Aaron to a party which meant that Robert was being dragged along too since Aaron didn't want Robert feeling left out. As soon as they got there, Adam dragged Aaron off to find a friend of theirs while Robert went into the kitchen to get them some drinks. He opened a beer, looking up when Katie appeared next to him. "What do you want now?" He rolled his eyes.

"I heard you and Jack talking the other day," Katie spoke, glaring at him. "And I know what you did to Gordon. Would be a shame if that got out, wouldn't it?" 

Robert couldn't escape the urge to slap the smirk off her face, instead just clutching the beer can in his hand harder. "You don't know what you're talking about. Keep your mouth shut." 

Katie laughed a little, looking Robert up and down. "Looks like you answer to me now, Robert." She smirked, walking away from him and over to where Andy and some of their friends were stood. 

Robert stood there, his jaw clenched as he was faced with the prospect of everyone finding out about his secret, and if that came out then all Aaron's secrets would come out. He couldn't let that happen. Though his predicament didn't seem quite so bleak when he spotted Ross Barton heading outside. Quickly, he followed him, grabbing Ross' arm to get his attention. 

"What do you want?" Ross shrugged Robert's hand off him. "More gear? I thought you'd have learnt your lesson after last time?" 

"Clearly not, give me whatever you've got." Robert shrugged, passing Ross whatever money he had off him and sulking back inside with the pills Ross gave him. He wasn't stupid enough to do the drugs again, though he was stupid enough to drop the pills into Katie's drink. He figured he could pretend a stranger spiked her and help her, then she would see that Robert wasn't so bad afterall. However, he didn't count on Aaron's eyes being on him or for Victoria and Katie to swap drinks. 

Which is how Victoria ended up being rushed to the hospital and Aaron thought Robert was some monster, not willing to hear his explanation. Though there wasn't much Robert could say to get himself out of this situation. Robert sat down next to Jack in the waiting room, cracking his knuckles awkwardly. "Dad.." He whispered, his voice all hoarse as he tried to get the words out. He couldn't lose Vic. "It's my fault, I..it was meant for Katie." 

"Katie? You spiked your own sister?!" Jack raised his voice, watching as Robert flinched in his seat. "Explain and hurry up, Robert before I drag you to that police station myself-"

"She was threatening me, she heard what you said about Gordon and I thought if I spiked her, I could help her and then she'd be grateful. She'd stop hating me and everything would be okay, but now Vic's involved and I've messed up again.." He spoke, his bottom lip wobbling slightly as he glanced at Jack. "Don't hate me, please. You know I wouldn't hurt Vic. I just... if Katie tells anyone then everyone's lives would be ruined. Yours, Mine, Aaron's. I just wanted to protect us all." 

"You better thank yourself lucky that she's going to be okay then." Jack spoke, "Get out of my sight, Robert. I'll deal with you when I get home and I'll sort Katie out. One day there won't be anyone around to clean up your messes, you know? Just when I thought I could be proud of you, you ruin everything again. Go home." 

And just like that, just as quickly as Robert had everything he had lost it all again. Jack hated him, Aaron hated him and Katie was gunning for him. He was a blight on the lives of everyone he came close to, he always would be. Everyone deserved so much better than Robert Sugden. When Jack got home that night, all the progress he had made with Robert went out of the window as the boy was given one hell of a beating but to Robert even that didn't compare to how bad he was feeling on the inside. There was no way he was coming back from this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that has commented and shown this fic some love. I really appreciate every bit of feedback I get and I love seeing how some of you theorise about characters and what will happen next. Thank you so much.


	17. 17.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie's Revenge. Trigger Warnings for this chapter. Mentions of suicide.

Katie's revenge started off rather simple, mostly just sending Robert to do various errands for her and honestly he didn't mind much. He thought things would've been much worse, but little did he know that Katie was just getting started. Her actual plan was far greater than Robert could've ever anticipated. The boy was hiding away in his bedroom, wanting to avoid being roped into doing any housework. All of his time was spent alone recently and he was in desperate need of a friend, which was why he replied to the stranger's messaged he received online. It started off casual but Robert soon found himself becoming obsessed with his phone, waiting desperately for a message from the online stranger. Robert didn't even know much about him; they were both boys, both the same age, both living somewhere in the United Kingdom and his name was Josh. Though that was all Robert needed to know, he just liked having someone there for him, someone who was interested in him and had no idea what he had done.

A few weeks passed and the only contact with anyone outside of his family was with Josh. Aaron was still refusing to give Robert the time of day and the boy felt lonelier than ever. On one occasion, a teacher caught him texting Josh in class and he had his phone confiscated. He felt the whole day in a panic, his stomach felt like it was tied as he worried that Josh would stop liking him because he replied too slowly. However, the end of the day came and Josh hadn't even bothered to message him. Robert couldn't have felt more disheartened if he had tried. In fact, most of the friendship was like this, with Robert obsessing over losing the only friend he had. He was so desperate to keep Josh that he would do anything he asked, no questions asked. 

And that was exactly how the naive teenager repeated a past mistake. Though last time he hadn't know about the pictures that were taken of him.This time, Robert found himself taking all the pictures Josh asked for, sending them in a desperate attempt to convince Josh to stick by him. And it worked for a little while, Josh was attentive and chatted with Robert for all his waking hours. Though as time passed, Josh asked for pictures more and more frequently and Robert grew tired of it. One day, he decided to refuse and his heart sank so quickly when he saw Josh's response. It had taken just seconds for Robert's last friendship to be over and now Josh was threatening to send the pictures to Robert's family. He couldn't risk Jack hating him even more. He'd kill him for this. The boy sat down on his bed, his heart pounding against his chest as he begged Josh not to send the pictures. He felt like nothing more than a cheap whore. It really was no wonder than nobody wanted him. 

Anxiously, he bit down against his lip, drawing a little blood as he waited for Josh to respond. Ten long, painfully long, minutes went by before Josh sent him an attachment. Robert let his thumb hover over the hyperlink for a few moments before he finally let himself click it.The link too him to a shady looking website and in the middle of the page was a play button. His brow furrowed a little as he clicked on it. The 'game' flashed up some pictures of Robert, the nudes he'd sent but also just pictures of the boy walking through the village, doing innocent things and he couldn't help but feel sick. Josh had been stalking him? Soon enough, Robert's next instructions flashed across the screen. He was to overdose on whatever pills he could find in the house or Jack and the rest of the family would see the pictures. 

And that's exactly what the boy did, he found some prescription painkillers belonging to Jack and emptied them out, sending a video to Josh as evidence as he took them. He just didn't want Jack to hate him again and Robert was certain he would if he saw the pictures. It took everything in Robert's power not to barf the tablets back up as he finally finished the bottle, setting it down on the bathroom cabinet before he slumped down on the floor. His stomach hurt already, his throat pained as he tried his hardest not to wretch. 

And the mastermind behind everything suddenly started to feel bad. Katie hadn't actually thought Robert would take the pills, she thought he was stronger than that. She didn't even think he would believe in the fake Josh profile she set up but he had. He'd easily bought every part of her revenge and only now did he feel any sense of guilt. She cracked easily, telling Andy everything which led to Andy telling Jack, the family rushing home to see Robert unconscious on the bathroom floor.


End file.
